LONDON | May 21

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We woke up very early thanks to jet lag and the Eastern sunshine, so we got up and ready. Only a few blocks south is the Baywater station, we took the district line and transferred to arrive in Hammersmith. We are acclimating quickly to public transportation thanks to Google maps of course. We used the oyster card yesterday but remembered to try Google pay on our phones which works great. We just tap our phones on the pay pad and the gates open. Before our first attraction opened we walked through a park that was actually an old graveyard called Margravine cemetery then we grabbed a bite to eat at a local cafe that doesn't seem to get too many Americans. We were met with confusion but friendliness.

Across the street from the cafe was one of my favorite buildings which is the Maggie's Centre in West London by Rogers + Partners but I've never seen it in person. It's in Hammersmith by Charing Cross hospital. The detailing is beautiful and I love the bright colors contrasted by the rich wood grains. I am thankful that John let the architect in me geek out a bit this morning. Read more about England's free, comprehensive cancer centers called Maggie's centres here. How amazing would this be in the states?

What we can't get used to is the whole drive-on-the-left-side thing. People walk on the left side of pathways, bike on the left side, etc. We've almost gotten run-over a hand full of times. Also, my allergies have fully kicked in. Yesterday the greenery and blooms didn’t bother me at all, today I’ve sneezed 100xs. Benadryl to the rescue. On our way back to Queensway we hoped on a double decker bus and upon waiting for our next activity grabbed more coffee at Cafe Diana. Here John used a lot of napkins. His cold from a few weeks ago has turned into some congestion.

From 11:00 to about 15:00 we went on a 9 mile bike tour of Royal London. The tour was with Fat Tire Bikes which apparently started as a Mays Business School student project, according to my sister. We biked through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park to see Kensington Palace which began as a modest country home. Afterwards included Wellington Arch, Bucky P (local slang for Buckingham palace), Trafalgar Square, ate in a crypt with a sweet couple from Alberta, horse guards parade, Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey, St. James park and back again through Hyde Park. 

After the tour we ate a quick snack and stopped by the HKS London office which was beautiful. Upon leaving the office we went to the National Gallery to snag a peek at a few famous paintings then we caught a clipper to head to Greenwich via River Thames. On the way we saw more of London like the Millennium bridge and the tower bridge. We stopped at Greenwich which the Brits pronounce Grinnich. We saw the Cutty Sark, an old ship that brought over tea in the 1800s. John found us a local joint that served pies and mash, basically sheperds pie and mashed potatoes. The staff told us that John ordered the most traditional London meal, beef pie and mash with liquour which is some parsley green liquid, not alcohol liquour. For dessert we had blackcurrant and apple crumble with half custard half ice cream. It was divine!

ON THE CLIPPER | my favorite photo of the day, half asleep at 4:30 PM

ON THE CLIPPER | my favorite photo of the day, half asleep at 4:30 PM

Fun facts of the day:

  • We learned that to get food or coffee to-go you should really say takeaway

  • Mind the gap or mind your head or mind whatever really means watch out

Daily Highs and Lows:

Rachel:

High - seeing Maggie’s West and biking to all the sites on a Fat Tire Bike tour

Low - feeling like death at 4:30 PM

John (word for word)

High - the bike ride

Low - none really

LONDON | May 20

WE’RE HERE!

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We have arrived on the first leg of our European tour in London! We took a nonstop red eye on United and slept most of the flight, thanks to very large sleeping pills. This was an important part of getting acclimated to the new time zone, and I’m happy to say we’re all set! So far we’ve only forgotten to pack hand sanitizer which we grabbed before we headed to the airport in Denver. 

Thanks to a coworker who spent a few months working here, we used oyster passes to get downtown to our AirBnB. We are staying for two nights in the Baywater district just north of Kensington (where William & Kate) live. We somehow figure out the tube and walked a very far distance through Hyde Park, the park surrounding Kensington, and made it here. After dumping off our bags and getting recommendations from our host we made the 2.5 mile trek to Primrose Hill, the best pollack for views of the city. All of this was in search of a late lunch. We grabbed some pounds at a nearby ATM on a lovely local street, which we wished we would’ve just stayed at. The ATM was quite the bust and we think it upcharged us $20 for conversions. We’ve found that almost everywhere accepts our Southwest Visa, which has no foreign transaction fees. We walked a bit through Little Venice and came upon Primrose Hill.  Primrose was great and had wonderful views of the city. We think there were more construction cranes than actually buildings.

After checking out the views we headed to the next suggestion which was Camden Market. This area was crawling with tourists. We’d give it a 1 on the scale of 1 to 5, 5 being “we could stay here all day”. I grabbed a Peruvian street pan al arena and John a burger.  He wasn’t feeling too adventurous for our first afternoon, lol. After this John discovered most restrooms across the pond are in fact not free. This was a very cruel surprise and after realizing he was too stubborn to pay we moved onto finding coffee to get us out of our afternoon jet lag. We jumped on the tube to Tottenham Court and found a less busy, more classy part of London. After walking for a bit we found Gail’s and sat down for a dirty chai and cappuccino, which John proceeded to discover he does not care for. He loves his black coffee!

After walking around SoHo we gandered back to Hyde Park which we would rate a 5 on the 1 to 5 awesome scale. We seemed to go from park to park until we got there, stopping and resting on benches, chatting with dog owners, and laughing at all the pups running loose. We wish we could’ve shrunk Millie and brought her with us! Hyde park was by far our favorite part of the first day. Good people watching, plenty of benches, lots of dogs, blooming flowers and green everywhere.

We sorely made our way back to our place and stopped at a nearby grocery for crackers, salami, cheese and fruit. A light dinner for only $10! John was even too tired to break into the chocolate. Tomorrow we’re ready for our bike tour and a stop by my company’s London office!

HYDE PARK | My favorite photo of the day

HYDE PARK | My favorite photo of the day

Daily Highs and Lows:

Rachel:

High - Walking through Hyde Park and seeing John’s reaction to having to pay to go to the restroom

Low - Bickering about what the world is coming to when you have to pay to poop

John:

High - walking through the park

Low - finding out we had to pay for toilets

MAY | Calendar Download

It’s gonna be MAY!!!!  The school year is wrapping up and I am SO READY for this month. Rebecca is graduating from Texas A&M this month (WHOOP!), we’re going on a real vacation, and school’s out!! Here’s to a great summer! This month we’re featuring the Palo Duro Canyon and Mother’s Day. My mom loved the PDC for Thanksgiving last year. This one’s for you mom! Happy downloading y'all! // R+R

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APRIL | Calendar Download

Happy Spring!!!  Technically spring started last month, but the weather is just starting to turn. We hope you enjoy these bright tulips on your tech this month. Happy downloading y’all! // R+R

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